sting

American  

[sting] / stɪŋ /

verb (used with object)

stings, present (3rd person singular) stung, past participle, past stang, past stinging present participle

1. to prick or wound with a sharp-pointed, often venom-bearing organ.

2. to affect painfully or irritatingly as a result of contact, as certain plants do.

   to be stung by nettles.

3. to cause to smart or to cause a sharp pain.

   The blowing sand stung his eyes.

4. to cause mental or moral anguish.

   to be stung with remorse.

5. to goad or drive, as by sharp irritation.

6. Slang. to cheat or take advantage of, especially to overcharge; soak.

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verb (used without object)

stings, present (3rd person singular) stung, past participle, past stang, past stinging present participle

1. to use, have, or wound with a sting, as bees.

2. to cause a sharp, smarting pain, as some plants, an acrid liquid or gas, or a slap or hit.

3. to cause acute mental pain or irritation, as annoying thoughts or one's conscience.

   The memory of that insult still stings.

4. to feel acute mental pain or irritation.

   He was stinging from the blow to his pride.

5. to feel a smarting pain, as from a blow or the sting of an insect.

   His cheeks stung from the hail.

noun

stings plural

1. an act or instance of stinging.

   The allergic reaction to a sting may be delayed for several hours.

2. a wound, pain, or smart caused by stinging.

   After an hour or so, the throbbing of the wasp sting subsided to a dull ache.

3. any sharp physical or mental wound, hurt, or pain.

   Laser treatment for wrinkles sounds like magic, but some people can’t tolerate the accompanying sting and burn.

4. anything or an element in anything that wounds, pains, or irritates.

   to feel the sting of defeat;

   Death, where is thy sting?

5. capacity to wound or pain.

   Satire has a sting.

6. a sharp stimulus or incitement.

   driven by the sting of jealousy;

   the sting of ambition.

7. Botany. a glandular hair on certain plants, as nettles, that emits an irritating fluid.

8. Zoology. any of various sharp-pointed, often venom-bearing organs of insects and other animals capable of inflicting painful or dangerous wounds.

9. Slang.

   1. confidence game.

   2. an ostensibly illegal operation, as the buying of stolen goods or the bribing of public officials, used by undercover investigators to collect evidence of wrongdoing.

10. Television. Sometimes a brief burst of music or a sound effect used to emphasize a moment of humor, drama, or fright in a show, or to punctuate a transition or another part of a show’s structure.

sting British  

/ stɪŋ /

verb

1. (of certain animals and plants) to inflict a wound on (an organism) by the injection of poison

2. to feel or cause to feel a sharp mental or physical pain

3. (tr) to goad or incite (esp in the phrase sting into action )

4. informal (tr) to cheat, esp by overcharging

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noun

1. a skin wound caused by the poison injected by certain insects or plants

2. pain caused by or as if by the sting of a plant or animal

3. a mental pain or pang

   a sting of conscience

4. a sharp pointed organ, such as the ovipositor of a wasp, by which poison can be injected into the prey

5. the ability to sting

   a sharp sting in his criticism

6. something as painful or swift of action as a sting

   the sting of death

7. a sharp stimulus or incitement

8. botany another name for stinging hair

9. slang a swindle or fraud

10. slang a trap set up by the police to entice a person to commit a crime and thereby produce evidence

11. an unexpected and unpleasant ending

sting Idioms  

1. see take the sting out of.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• stingingness
  noun
• resting
  verb
• outsting
  verb (used with object)
• stinging
  adjective
• stingless
  adjective
• unstinging
  adjective
• stingingly
  adverb
• unstingingly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• stings
  plural

Participles

• stinging
  present
• stung
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• sting
  simple
• stings
  simple
• have stung
  perfect
• has stung
  perfect
• am stinging
  progressive
• are stinging
  progressive
• is stinging
  progressive
• have been stinging
  perfect progressive
• has been stinging
  perfect progressive

Past

• stang
  simple
• stung
  simple
• had stung
  perfect
• was stinging
  progressive
• were stinging
  progressive
• had been stinging
  perfect progressive

Future

• will sting
  simple
• will have stung
  perfect
• will be stinging
  progressive
• will have been stinging
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of sting

First recorded before 900; Middle English verb stingen, Old English stingan “to pierce”; cognate with Old Norse stinga “to pierce,” Gothic -stangan (in usstangan “to pull out”); the noun is derivative of the verb

Explanation

Sting most commonly refers to the wound inflicted by a bee or hornet, or to a kind of burning pain, like the brief sting when your doctor gives you a vaccine. A nasty remark can also sting. "Float like a butterfly. Sting like a bee!" was Muhammad Ali's famous taunt to other fighters. But insects and boxers aren't the only ones who can sting. When someone says something that's both mean and true, it can sting. Such things are often referred to as stinging remarks. But if you're thinking crime, then a sting is a con-job that takes planning to pull off. When the cops spend months creating a fake crime-ring in order to catch criminals in the act, it's referred to a "sting operation."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

sting stings stang stung stinging

You can file your estimated tax payments quarterly to take the sting out.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 8, 2026

Police conducted the sting in response to more than 100 calls for service this year involving minors riding electric bikes and motorcycles in an unsafe manner, according to the district attorney’s office.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026

Her eyes sting with tears as the petite cakes thunk to the bottom of the trash.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026

It’s down 36% since May 2025 as its domestic business felt the sting of price wars.

From Barron's ● Jun. 23, 2026

And all of a sudden, it wasn’t about a bee sting anymore.

From "Fourth Grade Rats" by Jerry Spinelli

The fact that Patel has no criminal record and is not required to be on probation stings for San Mateo County Dist.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026

But it is the case of what could have been, both domestically and in Europe, that stings.

From BBC ● May 22, 2026

The whole business was entirely in keeping with the season, the twists and turns and stings in the tail.

From BBC ● Apr. 26, 2026

“It’s very painful, and it stings and it’s horrible,” Leite said of the latter.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 18, 2026

The “used to” stings, but I just say to Mrs. Rooks, “Yes, ma’am.”

From "The Hate U Give" by Angie Thomas

But I have strong suspicions you are, and if so, as the children say, "I hope that stang!"

From Time Magazine Archive

The shorter pipe-fish, stang, or sting, Sygnathus acus.

From The Sailor's Word-Book An Alphabetical Digest of Nautical Terms, including Some More Especially Military and Scientific, but Useful to Seamen; as well as Archaisms of Early Voyagers, etc. by Belcher, Edward, Sir

The ancient custom of riding the stang still lingers in some remote parts of the country.

From Bygone Punishments by Andrews, William

He tells us all about the ducking-stool, the brank, the pillory, the stocks, the drunkard's cloak, the whipping-post, riding the stang, and other forms of punishment.

From 'Phiz' (Hablot Knight Browne), a Memoir. by Kitton, Fred. G.

O. N. a in originally close syllable > æ, written a: anger, hansell, apert, ban, blabber, slak, cast, chaff, dash, dram, bang, fang, stang, lack, etc.

From Scandinavian influence on Southern Lowland Scotch by Flom, George Tobias

Barry Callebaut, one of the world's biggest chocolate makers, signalled Thursday that chocoholics are starting to replenish their stocks after being stung by inflation.

From Barron's ● Jul. 9, 2026

Some unavoidable costs still stung, though, like the $98 roundtrip NJ Transit fare to the stadium.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 24, 2026

“I was sitting in the audience and it stung a little bit,” Clark, 33, confessed.

From Salon ● Jun. 12, 2026

"And of course, bees, which he said have never stung him."

From Science Daily ● May 28, 2026

The accusation was offhand, but it still stung.

From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray

His most stinging losses were arguably in cases that the court didn’t hear.

From Slate ● Jun. 29, 2026

But “if you start to feel irritation, or your eyes are stinging or watering, or your nose is beginning to run or feel irritated, that’s a little more serious.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 21, 2026

He briefly responded in the fourth, hurting Verhoeven with a straight right and stinging left.

From BBC ● May 23, 2026

Here you might spy a lion’s mane jellyfish, whose stinging tentacles have been known to grow more than 100 feet, longer than the length of a basketball court.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026

I walked to her, tears stinging the rims of my eyes.

From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago

Related Words

• bite
• hurt
• inspire